A few questions about the Panasonic RP91

1. Is there a region-free version of this player available, and if so, where can I find one?
2. As for this "anamorphic scaling" thing, does this mean I will no longer have to watch non-anamorphic dvd's in TheaterWide 2 mode on my TW40? If so, do I still have to manually select "anamorphic scaling" on those dvd's, or does it do it automatically?
3. What significant advantages does this player hold over my Toshiba SD5109?

The scaling/zoom feature of the RP-91 allows you to leave your Toshiba in FULL mode when watching all DVD's (anamorphic, full frame and non-anamorphic widescreen). The player will automatically zoom/scale non-anamorphic widescreen titles if the DVD is properly encoded. Since many discs are not flagged properly, you will need to manually select the zoom/scaling option via the menus for these titles.
While I did not own a Toshiba 5109, I did own the successor to that player (SD6200). The RP-91's scaling offers a much better picture for non-anamorphic widescreen discs than the 6200 and my Toshiba 56H80's TheaterWide 2 zoom. Also, when watching the extras on a disc, there is no longer a need to constantly switch between FULL, NORMAL and TW2 on the TV depending on how the extra material is presented (I always found this irritating, especially since most of the time my set would be in TW1 mode from watching cable TV).
For anamorphic titles, the picture on the RP-91 gets a slight nod over the 6200. The picture seems a little sharper and better defined (it's subtle, though). The RP-91 does not have the chroma bug, but I rarely noticed that on the 6200 anyway.
The one feature of the Toshiba 6200 (and my previous Sony interlaced players) that I miss is the "time remaining" function. The RP-91 has no way of displaying the time remaining for any DVD-Video disc (it only supports this feature for DVD-Audio discs).
Sorry, but I cannot answer your region-free question.
------------------My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 5[Edited last by Scott Merryfield on August 27, 2001 at 10:33 AM]

As for this "anamorphic scaling" thing, does this mean I will no longer have to watch non-anamorphic dvd's in TheaterWide 2 mode on my TW40? If so, do I still have to manually select "anamorphic scaling" on those dvd's, or does it do it automatically?

??? Can I assume that your current DVD player does not have progressive scan? I thought that the theaterwide 40" TVs lock into FULL when in progressive mode. My Toshiba Cinema Pure widescreen does. The Panasonic automatically scales to the right setting (usually) so that isn't an issue though. Sometimes it does it wrong so I have to manually change it though. However, it doesn't do so good with movies with odd aspect ratios, since the scaling amounts are fixed (unlike the Malata).
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Eugene Hsieh, VisorCentral FAQ Editor
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Patrick, I have not seen a region free RP91.I had a Tosh 5109 until last month and for my birthday the folks bought me a Panny RP91.I also have a TW40x81 ISF by Louis Carliner last month.The first thing I noticed about the picture was it was noticeably(?)sharper than the Tosh and the colors were more refined and vibrant. I also could detect an improvement in the audio side. The bass was more pronounced and the highs were crisper.The nice thing though is I don't have to use the slow Tosh mode changes, I just leave the 40 on full and the 91 on Auto and it does it for me.All in all a definite improvement over the 5109 IMO.
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